Apple Bringing Some Mac Production Back to U.S. in 2013

Bringing the production back to the U.S. "isn't so much about the price"? B.S. Does Apple have enough money to afford to make everything here? Yep. But it would destroy their huge margins. Until they can find a way for production in the U.S. not to destroy their margins, I don't think we'll see U.S. production on a large scale.

Maybe a new Mac Pro will be made in the U.S. next year? Apple could easily tack on a few hundred dollars to the cost and say it's because of a huge "spec bump" (which would be inevitable based on how dated the Mac Pro hardware currently is); and the people who have been waiting for new Mac Pros would be so overjoyed to have new hardware that they'd buy it regardless of the price increase.

A new Mac Pro being made in the U.S. makes sense because that's the one product in the line that isn't obsessed with being thinner and lighter so it won't rely on the Chinese manufacturing technology that makes "thinner and lighter" possible on a large scale.

Les Kern said:

"the educational system is not producing the expertise needed for major manufacturing in consumer electronics"
That is horses**t, and I can't even believe he said that. But I need to think about WHY he said that. There is always a reason behind every word out of the mouth's of the powerful. Always.
And don't expect any follow-up questions from our "esteemed" fourth estate.

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Take it from a University Professor and a parent who has children in school, the educational system in America is terrible.

jasonv1 said:

Some federal agencies require hardware to be manufactured in the US for security reasons (I don't know which specifically).

Cisco has a manufacturing (well, assembly) facility in the US just for this purpose; I think it is in Texas.

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Please...More like prejudice...

FANTASTIC NEWS!! Kudos to you, Tim. This will cause a ripple effect in the tech industry.

dojoman said:

Finally jobs are coming back to US for a change. Screw China!!!

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What is wrong with these people. Stop being so racist and get rid of all this stupid prejudice.

Umbongo said:

People don't realize how much stuff is still made in America because the media push the concept that there is nothing left as hard as they can.

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I know.
However, by pushing this agenda the press is creating awareness to two things:
1. There IS a problem of jobs going over seas to china and such.
2. Companies that do produce in the US may get more exposure and more favorable press coverage + more sales. Just look at most of the reactions here and look at Tim Cook making a point in this interview. It means that "Made in the USA" is becoming important.

As always, the media are annoying and depressing but somehow it works for the best.

ihuman:D said:

What is wrong with these people. Stop being so racist and get rid of all this stupid prejudice.

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While i don't agree with the "screw China" rhetoric, it's about damn time a tech giant is willing to start bringing manufacturing back to America. That means more jobs for Americans, and more money in the US economy.

ck2875 said:

I wonder how much of this is to have tighter control on supply chain leaks (i.e. There weren't any pics of the new iMac prior to reveal).

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My thoughts exactly.

Let's start w/ making something small like... the Mac mini and see how the qual control is before they go all in.

Hakone said:

Let's start w/ making something small like... the Mac mini and see how the qual control is before they go all in.

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You do know that Mac refurbs have been done in the US for years, right?

technopimp said:

Do people go to school to work at McDonald's?

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Why Yes. Yes they do...Hamburger University.

Introducing the new iMac made in USA...starting price $2,999.

Very good stuff

Now make a headless upgradeable mid tower mac and were really talking.

TMay said:

Apple's love of flash memory could drive a new type of pro machine; more power supply and cooling for dual Xeon's and memory, plus a PCIe stack. TB and internal SSD slots replace harddrive trays.

Smaller,cooler, quieter and more expensive will be the end result.

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In the world of matrix. I'm actually very pessimistic in regards to the direction Apple will go with MP.

ck2875 said:

I wonder how much of this is to have tighter control on supply chain leaks (i.e. There weren't any pics of the new iMac prior to reveal).

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I'd imagine it'll be mostly assembly; so while it might help with leaks of the final device aesthetics, it's not going to help much of all the components are still manufactured elsewhere.

new product

the product set for us production is none of the current series, it's a brand new product line.

It will be the Mac Pro. Making it here will make it even more expensive. And Apple still probably won't give it much of an update.
Then when sales drop to nothing due to the higher cost and lack of update Apple will kill off the Mac Pro.
Apple will say that low Mac Pro sales is proof that no one wants a computer that offers internal expansion.
Apple will turn into just a consumer gadget company.
It's possible.

So many people complain about these assembly line jobs being shipped to China that people sometimes forget the iOS and OS X, the design of the devices, the marketing of the devices, and many of the chip designs inside of the devices where all done in the USA (for the most part).

These are high paid, high skill jobs that makes the USA still the land of money and opportunity. You want to move to China because they have jobs? Go ahead. But the jobs are crap, the pay sucks, and the government doesn't protect you and your interests.

jessica. said:

I'm all about cost-saving efforts but not at the risk pushing people out of work.

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If it's not American workers being put out of work, it's the Chinese.

There will always be winners and losers.

This line will be the one to avoid due to the quality control issues that are inevitable.

viperGTS said:

Well Apple, if you love education as much as you say you do, why not put some of that huge pile of money you have back into the education system?

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I'm sure they do donate to local colleges, but that isn't what bugs me. The education system isn't producing manufacturing expertise because those jobs haven't been available for thirty years. All these companies outsourced and then when they want to insource, they complain that no ones knows the process. Well, duh! Why not start vocational training programs for tech manufacturing, then?

Apple can build the talent they want...

Welcome back "Made In The USA"!!!
Fantastic news Apple! Let's hope they set a trend for other manufacturers to do the same.

All Apple's products should be branded 'Made In The USA', after all, the world wants US made Apple products.

To ihuman: D - how on earth could you possibly extract a 'racist' comment out of dojoman's comment? Sheesh! They're talking about 'manufacturing'. Sounds to me like you're the racist, prejudiced one here. Only a racist person would make an assumption like that.

I support Apple's decision and I support American's having jobs. And hey, I'm Australian!

There..

...is enough people in America for them to make everything in America.

Glad they are doing something though. Hard to knock them for producing products outside of the US when it made them the biggest corporation in the world.

Yeah, it seems like the Mac Pro would be the best model to produce in the US:

1) it's the slowest mover in terms of production so it wouldn't take long to ramp up to produce the numbers required.
2) It seems like the most like a normal PC and perhaps the easiest to assemble.
3) It's the most expensive and geared for professionals and servers, so the premium to produce in the US can be folded into the price.
4) Great for PR and perhaps some tax credits ... I think it's quite expensive to constantly defend against journalists and non-profit organization who constantly rail against Apple, this would essentially shut them up by saying we do produce computers in the US.